Needle-carrier for knitting-machines.



A. M. PIGEON.

NEEDLE CARRIER FOR KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6,1916.

1,230,322. v Patented June 19, 1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET l.

Inventor.- Albert n7. 1215 6072,

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A. M. PIGEON.

NEEDLE CARRIER FOR KNITTING MACHlNES.

. 1 APPLICATION FILED JUNE 6, 1916. 4 1,230,322. Patented June 19, 1917.

ZSHEETS-SHEET 2.

- To all whom it may concern:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALBERT M. PIGEON, 0F NORRISTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO WILDMAN MFG.00., 0F NORRIS'IOWN, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

NEEDLE-CARRIER FOR KNITTING-MACHINES.

* Be it known that I, ALBERT M. PIGEoN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Norristown, Pennsylvania, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Needle-Carriers for Knitting-Machines, of whichthe following is a specification.

The purpose of my invention is to pro-. vide a needle carrier with meansto facilitate casting ofi' needle loops in knitting operations. Theinvention can be used in all classes of knitting machines, having springbeard or latch needles, circular or straight bar machines with a singlerow or double row of needles for knitting rib fabrics and it isapplicable to sinker fed knitting machines or direct feed equally well.

For convenience of description I will refer in the followingspecification to needle cylinders and will also use the broader termneedle carrier butv in any event I do not wish to be understood aslimiting the scope of the invention to any particular form of needlecarrier.

Needle carriers or cylinders as is well known are provided with verticalgrooves in which the needles slide and the tops of the cylinders, whereweb holders are employed, are provided with grooves in l1ne with thespaces between the needle grooves and these top grooves receive the webholders to guide them in their movements.

It has been found that in the case of fine gage machines the yarn beingfed to the needles sometimes falls or is dragged lnto the web holdergroove and the needle as it retracts because of the restraininginfluence of the trapped new yarn fails to fully shed the old loop and atuck stitch in due course will be formed by the needle passing upwardand taking thread for forming another stitch without first having castoff the old loo The needle cylinder construction of the presentinvention effectually prevents the yarn from becoming trapped in the webholder groove.

A further feature of the invention con? cerns the provision of a supportfor the fabric loop which greatly assists in drawing the new loopthrough the old loop without relying on the web holder to assist intheknocking off action.

The invention consists in the features and Specification of LettersPatent. Pate t d J 19 191 r7 Application filed June 6, 1916.

Serial No. 101,984.

combination and arrangement of parts herelnafter described andparticularly pointed out 1n the appended claims.

. In the drawings:

F1gure 1 is a perspective view of a portion of the top of a needlecylinder which is representative of any needle carrier or bed to whichthe invention is applicable.

Fig. 2 1s aplan view of Fig. 1 of a diagrammatic. character showingneedles, web holders and a part of the knitting.

v F g. 3 is a front view of Fig. 2.

F g. 4 sectional view of the needle carrier with the needle, web holderand a part of the knitting, the position of the parts belng that assumedby them when the old loop is about to be cast off.

Fig. 5 is a view like Fig. 4 with the needle 7 at the limit of itsdownward stroke having {lrawn the new stitch and cast off the old oop.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 showing a sllght modification.

The needle carrier or cylinder 1 has vertical needle grooves 2 ofsubstantially ordinary form and transverse slots 3 in planes between theneedle grooves for the recep-' zion of the web holders, as iniordinaryprac- The top of the cylinder has the usual abrupt angle at 1ts verge 4but instead of this verge or edge reaching clear up to the web holdergroove or slot the verge ofthe cylinder is cutaway, leaving wide spacesbe tween the edges, a, a, a, a,-these recesses hav1ng 1nclined bottomsreaching up from the cyllnder verge to a point considerably back thereofat 5. The web holder slots open into these wide spaces, and thereforethe mouth or end of the web holder slot or groove at its top is alsoconsiderably in rear of the verge of-the cylinder and the plane of theneedles, that is to say the point 6 is some distance back from the vergeof the needle carrier and therefore when the web holder is in the groovethe end of the crevice between the upper part of the web holder and itsguiding wall will be located so far back from the verge where theneedles are located that the new yarn in running to the needles cannotcatch in the mouth or end of this crevice. The slots are widened as uststated at the verge of the cylinder, leaving a standing wall 7 backof-the needle of a thickness equal to or considerably less than that ofthe needle. This wall may be made a part of the cylinder or it may beprovided by inserted tempered steel bits 7 as desired. The purpose ofthis standing wall is to support on its upper surface 7 the fabric loopsas at 7), Figs. 2 and 4, or to hold up the loop 0 which has just beencast off as shown in Fig. 5.

The newly supplied yarn (Z which is intended to be drawn through the oldneedle loop 0 is free from any support afforded by the cylinder verge,it being supported solely by the fabric supporting surface 8 of the webholder 9 and. the old loop on the needle. The web holder is not requiredto exert any knocking over action whatever, and the new yarn can befreely drawn through the old loop.

In order to draw the new loop through the old loops a weight or takeupis required to pull the fabric away from the needles. Briefly stated inthe new structure the needle carrier verge at points lying between theneedles is cut away back to a depth sufficient to avoid any support bythe cylinder for the new yarn and a wall or tooth 7 stands behind theneedle to support the fabric loop.

The bottoms of the spaces a, a, a, a are made inclined for convenience.These recesses or spaces however, may be made of rectangular form aSwell.

The support 7- serves to sustain the loop which has just been cast offas in Fig. 5 against undue downward deflection, while the new yarn isbeing drawn therethrough and therefore this new yarn as it goes throughthe old loop is bent downwardly from a substantially horizontal plane ata sharp angle, approximately a right angle. Without this fabricsupporting surface the downward movement of the needle in drawing thenew yarn through the old loop would drag the old loop downward, and thisdownward drag would occur in varying degree, more, for instance, in thecase of a needle not quite as smooth as another. The old loop which isdragged down the lowest will allow the new yarn to reach the needlealong a path inclining downward and as this path would be shorter thanthe right angular path above mentioned, this new loov on being drawnthrough the old loop 0 extreme downward deflection would be much shorterthan a new loop drawn through an old one sustained at a higher levelagainst downward deflection. With the fabric supports 7 hack of theneedle the fabric loops have a uniform and minimum deflection and as theneedles all go down to a definite level the new loops will all be of auniform length. From the above, it will be seen that the specific meanswhich I employ for preventing the supply yarn from being trapped in thecrevice between the web holder and its guiding wall consists, in theparticular ekample of my invention illustrated, of the recess as (re-cwhich locates the mouth of this crevice sutliciently far away from theneedle cylinder verge and the point where the new yarn is fed, to avoidthis new yarn being caught but it will be understood that means otherthan the recess may be used to prevent the trapping of the new yarn inthe web holder groove.

In Fig. 6 a depression is formed in the cylinder top near the vergethereof at c and this provides a shoulder at f to hold the fabric loopagainst displacement, due to the drawing of the new stitch. I-Ieretoforethe new yarn has been prevented from being trapped in the web holdergrooves by locating the lower surfaces 8 of the web holders in a planeabove the top of the needle cylin 'der in which the web holder groovesare made, but this is objectional because of the extra wide sinker waleswhich are thereby produced. By my invention the lower surfaces 8 of theweb holders can be in the same plane with the top of the cylinder andthe objection just noted will be avoided, and at the same time the newyarn will not be trapped.

What I claim is 1. A needle carrier having grooves for needles andgrooves for web holders, with means forming a part of the needle carrierstructure adjacent the verge for preventing the new yarn becoming caughtin the web holder grooves, substantially as described.

2. A needle carrier having needle grooves with supports at the verge ofthe same for the needle backs and the old fabric loops, with spacesbetween said supports extending rearwardly of the plane of the verge andweb holder grooves opening into said spaces, substantially as described.

3. A needle carrier having grooves for the needles and, grooves forinstruments and recesses at the verge of the carrier into which the lastmentioned grooves open, said recesses being in the carrier in rear ofthe plane of the needle backs, substantially as described.

4. In combination a needle carrier having guide grooves for needles andguide grooves for web holders, the lower fabric supporting surfaces ofthe web holders being no higher than the top of the carrier, and meansforming a part of the needle carrier structure to prevent the yarncatching in the grooves of the web holders, substantially as described.

5. In combination a needle carrier having guide grooves for needles andguide grooves for web holders, the lower fabric supporting surfaces ofthe web. holders being no higher than the top of the carrier, and meansto prevent the yarn catching in the grooves of the web holders, saidmeans consisting of the recesses at the verge of the carrier into 7which the web holder grooves open, substantially as described. 7

6. A needle carrier having grooves for needles and'grooves for webholders, with recesses at the verge of the carrier into which the webholder grooves open and projections between the recesses, ofsubstantially right angular form the vertical faces of said projectionsfurnishing supports for the me dle backs and the horizontal faceaffording supports for the fabric loops.

7. A needle carrier having grooves for needles and grooves for webholders with recesses at the verge of the carrier into which the webholder grooves open and projections between the recesses, saidprojections furnishing supports for the needle backs and also affordingsupports on their upper sides for the fabric loops, the upper sides ofsaid projections having each a stop or shoulder adjacent the verge toresist outward movement of the old fabric loops under the draft of theyarn in forming a new loop.

8. A needle carrier having needle grooves and a carrier verge havingneedle and fabric supporting walls at the back of the needle ofapproximately the needle width and spaces for the relief of the new yarnalongside said Walls, said spaces being in rear of the plane in whichthe needles operate.

9. A needle carrier having grooves for needles and grooves for webholders with recesses at the verge of the carrier into which the webholder grooves open and projections between the recesses, saidprojections furnishing supports for the needle backs and also affordingsupports for the fabric loops, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I afiix my signature.

ALBERT M. PIGEON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

